England beat Germany with late rally

ENGLAND struck twice late on to end a 55-year wait for a knockout tie victory over Germany amid scenes of huge tension and elation to reach the Euro 2020 quarter-finals at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate’s side battled hard to earn the statement victory that has so often eluded England, and it was their talisman of this tournament, Raheem Sterling, who made the decisive breakthrough.

Sterling, who scored the winners against Croatia and the Czech Republic in the group stage, steered in Luke Shaw’s cross after 75 minutes to send England’s fans, with more than 40, 000 inside Wembley, into wild celebrations.

The win was secured with another moment of significance four minutes from time when captain Harry Kane, who had once again struggled to influence the game, headed in from substitute Jack Grealish’s perfect delivery for his first goal of Euro 2020.

Gareth Southgate’s side will now face either Sweden or Ukraine in the quarter-finals in Rome on Saturday.

And Kyllian Mbappe missed the crucial kick as Switzerland beat France on penalties in the Euro 2020 last 16 after a classic European Championship game.

The Swiss had been seconds away from elimination during 90 minutes but go through to face Spain after progressing from a major tournament knockout game for the first time since 1938.

Haris Seferovic headed the Swiss ahead and they had a penalty saved that could have made it 2-0 before Karim Benzema scored twice and Paul Pogba put France 3-1 up with a screamer.

Seferovic headed in his second goal of the game for Switzerland and substitute Mario Gavranovic hammered in a last-minute equaliser to send the game to extra time.

Switzerland play Spain, who also came through a thriller - 5-3 after extra time against Croatia - in the quarter-final in St Petersburg on Friday.

This is the biggest shock of Euro 2020 so far, with world champions France having been tipped to win the tournament by 12 of 15 BBC pundits before it started.

Meanwhile, Dutch coach Frank de Boer stepped down yesterday after the  Netherlands’  dismal Euro 2020 last-16 elimination by the Czech Republic.

De Boer’s decision comes as speculation mounted over his future as manager of the Oranje following the team’s 2-0 loss in Budapest on Sunday evening. –